On a recent FridayI picked
up AK97643A10542
A void.
What do you open with this freakish hand? 1?
Its very unlikely to be passed out, because some must have minor suits! 2
strong? It certainly qualifies for it under the rule of 25. If you are playing
weak twos in the major , then 2 showing
8 playing tricks in an undisclosed suit. Or 2
the game force hand (23 more points or game in your own hand)?

Secondly if parner responds in s
after you've shown s, how high do you
bid the s ?

Second hand

What do open as dealer with AK98764Q107364?

Replies

The really important point about this hand is
the responder's failure to re-evaluate his hand after you have shown an immensely
strong hand with at least 6 cards in spades. The Q
and KJ of s are gold dust in the context
of the bidding, so at least partner should bid 5
and a jump to 6 with that holding
should be routine

With the first hand, nothing
is ideal whatever system you play. We play weak twos, so I would (reluctantly)
open 1S. If partner responded 2 of a minor I would jump to 3H. If we played
strong twos I would probably risk opening 2S and rebid 3H. I don’t think 2C
is appropriate in either case.

On the second hand, for
me that’s straightforward. It’s wrong to pre-empt if also holding a 4 card
major, and the hand meets the rule of 20 (9 HCP plus 11 cards) so open 1D.
Hope to find a spade fit, but if not, keep coming back to the diamonds. Funnily
enough I had exactly this situation when playing Chicago a few days ago, only
it was with 7 clubs and 4 hearts and as far as I recall with pretty much the
same honours as in your example – certainly it was 9 HCP. I was a bit dubious
about what to do, but opened 1 club anyway, partner responded in hearts and
we bid and made game with not very many points at all. The moral of it was,
following the ‘rules’ paid off! Though I appreciate it doesn’t always…

Quite a problem the first
hand. Almost certainly game in the hand in spades so a bid of 2 clubs is justified,
and I do not want partner to pass below game. So I would open 2clubs and over
a response from partner bid 2 spades., which I play as forcing to game. If
I got any bid of diamonds later, then I would jump in hearts even at the 5
level! It could be a complete misfit though. If partner gave a negative response
of 2 diamonds, then I would have to settle for 4 spades. It takes little to
make a slam though. The second hand is easier. Too strong for a pre-empt,
so I would open 1 diamond. Seems a lot of these hands around at the moment.

I would always open 1S
as the hand is not really powerful enough for a 2C opening and I want to be
able to bid spades and hearts if opponents overcall which they might. These
type of hands are difficult, do I rebid the spades or introduce hearts if
partner responds in a minor? Should partner bid 2D I might bid 3H, but prefer
to play in spades , so would convert 4H to 4S.

The second hand is easier.
As dealer I would open 1D, but 3rd in hand I might well open 4D
to stop the 4th player bidding a major suit

What actually happened

On the first hand I decided
to open 1, which was overcalled 3.
Partner passed , and when it came round to me I bid 4.
The opponents sacrificed in 5 so I
bid 5which became the contract!

Partner held Qx
K9x Jxxxx
9x

Most players played in
6 so not a good result!

On the second hand I decided
to open 1, too strong a hand for a
pre-empt, and eventually we played in 5
doubled for 2 down when opponents have 5
on, so a better result!